


Animate Me

by seventhTense



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Catboys & Catgirls, Easily Flustered Himbo w/ a Heart of Gold Sakamoto Ryuji, M/M, Modeling, Painting, Phantom Paws: Purrsona 5 Zine, Takemi's experimental drugs & the side effects thereof, Unintentionally Aggressive Flirt Kitagawa Yusuke, artist struggles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27148423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seventhTense/pseuds/seventhTense
Summary: With a stack of unfinished art school assignments, Yusuke volunteers to try out an experimental new Energy-Boosting drug of Takemi's, and pulls a frantic all-nighter......forgetting that he asked Ryuji over the next day to model for him. When Ryuji wakes Yusuke up from his face-down-on-the-desk sleep, how will the bleary-eyed artist react?(And, more importantly, how will he deal with these strange side-effects that seem to be playing havoc with his heart?...)
Relationships: Kitagawa Yusuke/Sakamoto Ryuji
Kudos: 44





	Animate Me

**Author's Note:**

> No tws for this other than Art Talk Written By a Non-Artist. Whoops!
> 
> This fic was written for the Phantom Paws charity zine! Enjoy!

Unscrewing a small lid, Yusuke downed the whole bottle in one go, anticipation running through his veins. Earlier, he had stopped by Leblanc just as Akira’s doctor friend had come by with a new experimental medicine, said to boost one’s energy tenfold. Yusuke’s mind had instantly gone to the neglected pile of homework waiting for him in his dorm room, and had asked if he could test it out instead. Takemi and Akira had exchanged a long look, then a shrug, and the doctor passed the small vial to Yusuke, along with a lengthy monologue of warnings that he more or less forgot in his excitement as he headed home. 

As soon as the elixir slid down his throat, Yusuke felt his body light up with energy, and without another thought he got to work. 

For hours, deep into the night, inspiration and paint flowed in equal amounts as Yusuke burned through the week’s homework. Eventually, drowsiness finally started encroaching upon the corners of his mind, and Yusuke noted as his concentration began to slip that perhaps he had overestimated the potency of Takemi’s elixir, to think that it would last him until morning. Not wanting to fall asleep at the canvas and unintentionally spill paint over himself and his work, _again_ , Yusuke carefully moved his last piece to the pile of finished canvases lined up against his walls. 

As soon as he set it down, however, Yusuke started to feel his knees go all wobbly, like he’d been hit with a dizzy spell in Mementos, and he staggered across his room in the direction of his bed- only managing to collapse into the chair in front of his desk instead. 

He felt the room tilt and start to spin, and his body started to grow warm all over. Weakly, Yusuke moved to settle his arms on the desk like a pillow, and as soon as his forehead brushed against the fabric of his shirt sleeve, he was out like a light.

Some interminable amount of time later, a gentle but persistent shaking of his shoulders roused Yusuke from the realm of dreams. He was not one to awaken quickly, however, and all the less so when battling the remnants of the aftereffects of that miracle drug he had taken the night before.

Awareness came to him in stages, then, gradual and yet far sharper, more intense than he was accustomed to. A familiar scent hit him first, of soda and sweat and kindness, hitting Yusuke’s nose more sharply than usual as it slowly suffused the room. Sound was next, sighs and mutterings and the rustling of fabric. Yusuke was still having trouble opening his eyes for some reason, but he could hear more as his senses roused themselves awake, the sighs becoming more agitated-sounding, the muttering becoming more familiar-sounding and comforting, the rustling of fabric turning to the rush of fingers running through someone’s hair. A louder sigh, like giving up, and the hand was back on Yusuke’s shoulder-

“Yo, dude, wake up!!!” Ryuji said, much louder, as he roughly started to shake Yusuke’s shoulder. Yusuke shot up in his chair, blinking around, alarmed, before his gaze settled on Ryuji’s exasperated face, and he remembered all at once why he had been so determined to finish his homework last night, so he could fully focus on his project for today- a portrait of Ryuji.

“Ryuji! How wonderful to see you- please, take a seat over there, I’ll gather my materials for an initial sketch...” The last dregs of sleep burned away from the corners of Yusuke’s mind as he started to rummage around- if he was lucky, perhaps he could convince Ryuji to stay longer, get a start on the painting itself once he had finished sketching...

“Uh, hey Yusuke... you sure you don’t want, like, some breakfast first or somethin’?” Ryuji asked, his trademark disgruntled concern ringing clear through his voice. 

“Not at all; as with the all the best mornings of my life, inspiration shall be all the fuel my body needs! Though I would not object to something later on, of course.” He sent an encouraging smile towards Ryuji, and gestured towards the stool he had set up in the corner of his room. “Over there, please.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, man...” Ryuji grumbled, but Yusuke could tell he was amused, which was strange, really- not that Ryuji was amused, but Yusuke had always had an awful lot of trouble unraveling the subtleties of human emotion within the words of those around him, and yet now it was clear as day. Perhaps this was another side-effect of that energy drug? How strange...

Still, there was no time to wonder about such things- his masterpiece awaited! Yusuke moved the chair he had fallen asleep in over to face the stool Ryuji had settled onto, pulled out his sketchpad and a basic pencil, and started his work.

...only to stop a few minutes later. “Ryuji, must you keep moving so? I cannot do anything with you fidgeting about like this.”

“Well I’m nervous, alright!!!” He barked back, all huffy and embarrassed. “I’ve never done this shit before, it’s stressful! How the hell am I supposed to- uh.... dude?”

As Ryuji shouted, Yusuke had realized that he was correct- _of course_ Ryuji was nervous, that was only to be expected. Typically, Yusuke would have no idea how to fix that, but now, his instincts were speaking to him, and as he had trained himself to do with all his strongest artistic impulses, Yusuke followed these physical ones instantly. He moved over towards Ryuji until he stood behind him, and pulled Ryuji’s head to his heart, hands moving almost of their own accord to pet and comb through Ryuji’s hair as a deep, soothing rumble started up somewhere in Yusuke’s chest.

They stood like that for a while, wordless, but when Yusuke looked down to see if Ryuji was any more relaxed, he looked even stiffer and more nervous than before! Clearly this would require more intense soothing. Sighing, Yusuke let go of Ryuji’s head with one hand, moving it to his mouth to lick across his palm so he could properly groom-

“OKAY, nope!” Ryuji shoved Yusuke away, shaking his head furiously. “I can take a lotta weird shit these days dude, but not that! Alright?! Not that-”

“ _ **Perfect!**_ ” Yusuke shouted, dropping to one knee as soon as he recovered from the shove, framing his fingers around Ryuji’s image. “That’s exactly the pose I was searching for, yes- stay just like that, Ryuji, do not move a muscle!”

Ryuji sputtered, then sighed and grumbled something as Yusuke went to pick up his pad and pencil again, reseated himself, and got to sketching. It really was the perfect pose, emotion and passion clear in the lines of his arms, yes, _yes..._

_...no._

No, the _pose_ was perfect, but this _angle_ was not quite right. Yusuke stood, moved over towards Ryuji’s left side, seeing if perhaps the full length of Ryuji’s arm as he shoved would... but no, that wasn’t it either, and perhaps the right, with the whole of Ryuji’s motion visible, more distant... but _**no,**_ because now there was _too much space..._

Ah! Perhaps _that_ was it, there was too much space to begin with! Yusuke moved closer, waiting until the image looked just right... but then he realized- with all this dynamic tension in Ryuji’s form, it would be truly fascinating, truly _original_ if he got a deeply intimate portrait, if he captured how all that tension expressed itself in the musculature of Ryuji’s neck, the strain in his face, yes, _perfect!_

He stood up, and moved as close as he could without disrupting his friend’s pose, but still, something deep within him, something more than his artistic sensibilities, something _stronger_ cried out that there was too much space between them, this _wasn’t right-_

Before he knew it, Yusuke found himself settling down somewhere much closer and _much_ better. He was practically face to face with Ryuji now, he could see every twitch of his cheek muscles, the creases in his forehead, the pores on his nose... Yusuke’s hands began to sketch, only needing a brief glance down to the paper every few seconds, his mind and eyes moving faster than they had in ages.

“Uh, little close, don’tcha think?” Ryuji said nervously- though now that Yusuke was this close, he could see that the nervousness wasn’t just in Ryuji’s voice, his whole expression was shifting, squirming with unease, stress in new spots and gone from others-

Yusuke sighed, set his pencil down in his lap, and firmly grasped Ryuji’s chin instead. The blonde let out a startled little noise, his eyes locking with Yusuke’s and the color on his face rising. “Be still, Ryuji,” Yusuke commanded, stern and unyielding. “That is all I ask from you. Sit, keep your position, and Be. Still. Do you understand?”

Ryuji made a high-pitched, wordless noise that sounded vaguely like a “ _Yes sir..._ ” and quickly nodded. Sighing, Yusuke let go, hoping he got his point across, and resumed his work. Ryuji was totally different now, of course, there was no way to go back and recapture what he had before, but this could still work, even the new lines and colors on him added a certain blushing beauty to the piece...

“Y-y’know,” Ryuji started, and Yusuke held back a sigh; he supposed that talking would be fine, more or less. It usually never bothered him, and he had finished most of Ryuji’s jawline. “I’ve never seen you this close to someone before.”

“Hm?” Yusuke frowned, though only a little. “I’m simply capturing a more intimate portrait of you. I suppose that isn’t my typical style, but...”

“Well, sure, but do ya haveta sit in a guy’s lap to do a portrait?” Ryuji asked, voice higher and more nervous still, and yes, now that he was paying attention, he _was_ straddling Ryuji’s lap, wasn’t he? Huh. How did that happen... 

Yusuke shrugged. Oh well. “I suppose I am. Frankly, I hadn’t noticed, but I suppose such closeness is necessary at times.”

“Guess so...” silence lapsed between them for a few minutes, and Yusuke was starting on the details of the creases around Ryuji’s eyes when he spoke again. “So, uh, how’d ya end up falling asleep with a headband like that on? Lose a dare to Futaba or somethin’?”

“I worked through most of the night, then lost all my energy at once thanks to what I presume was an unintended side effect of an energy tonic Akira provided me with,” Yusuke recited emotionlessly, too deeply entrenched in his work to manage more than that. “And I am not wearing any headbands.”

“Huh? Uh, you’re totally wearin’ somethin’ dude,” Ryuji insisted, and Yusuke sighed, because this was getting troublesome.

“I am not, Ryuji, now would you plea-”

“Dude, if you aren’t wearin’ anything, then what are these-” Ryuji shifted, reached up towards the top of Yusuke’s head, and that was _**enough.**_

“ _ **Enough!!**_ ” Yusuke threw his sketchbook and his pencil to the floor, batted Ryuji’s hand to the side and grasped either side of the blonde’s face with his hands. Their faces were _very_ close together, panic and alarm and something else swirling in Ryuji’s eyes and etched across his face, but all Yusuke could think about was how Ryuji _kept moving,_ twitching around so frustratingly and enticingly all at the same time- “For the last time, Ryuji, you will _be still,_ or I w-”

Whether it was from the panic, or the closeness between them, or something else, Yusuke didn’t know. But suddenly, his words were cut off as Ryuji surged forwards from between Yusuke’s hands and pressed their lips together.

Yusuke was frozen, for several moments, before something deep within his chest _purred_ in satisfaction, some part of his heart and his chest and his soul saying _this, this is the beauty that you seek,_ and he melted into the kiss, his entire body softening and pressing more against Ryuji’s as he kissed him back. It was clumsy and it was perfect, pure and untainted, the heat of desire and the unfettered, thoughtless, _human_ feelings of Ryuji’s heart mixing and melding in a more perfect unison than Yusuke could ever hope to capture in his art, though he knew he’d try to do just that for decades to come.

They parted after not too long, for air both literal and emotional. Ryuji had a deeply endearing, flustered little smile on his face, and Yusuke couldn’t help but smile in return.

Their eyes met, and Ryuji’s blushy embarrassment shifted into a warm, deeply happy smile, Yusuke feeling the same mirrored on his own face. He pressed his forehead to Ryuji’s, felt Ryuji reach up to card his fingers gently through Yusuke’s hair-

-only to brush up against something, something Yusuke had never felt before, had not known was there to begin with, but all the same the contact sent a thrum of deep, carnal pleasure running through him. He gasped, pressed closer to Ryuji-

-only to jerk back as Ryuji let out a loud “ _HUHH?_ ” Yusuke frowned, displeased and disrupted from chasing the very lovely feeling he had. Ryuji wasn’t looking at his face though, his eyes locked to whatever his fingers had hit, and curiously, Yusuke reached up and felt around there himself.

There were two cats ears sitting atop his head- or rather, _attached_ to his head, twitching around and shifting like a real cat’s now that he was aware of them, the movement feeling as natural and instinctive as blinking his eyes. “Huh. So that’s what you meant by a headband. How strang- oh!”

Yusuke had scooted forwards when Ryuji brushed his hands against the cat ears, unintentionally scooting his slacks down with the movement, and all of a sudden a large, long _something_ popped out from where it had been stuck in there, trailing out from the base of Yusuke’s spine. He twitched it about, pure instinct again, and as he glanced to the side, saw a long, blue-black tail swooshing around behind him. “Ah. How strange.”

“ _HUUUUH???_ ” was all Ryuji had to say to that.

“I had wondered what that strange lump back there was. How vexing.”

“ _HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH???????_ ”

\----

They both had a long, long talk with Akira and Takemi after that.

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the song of the same name by Rush! The lyrics don't have much to do with the fic, but it's the only song in my playlist that had any remotely art-related aspect to it! X}P sometimes it just be that way
> 
> RyuKita fans stand up! This is one of my fave ships in P5, outside of Shuake, and I was really excited to get to do a fic for them for the zine!
> 
> This fic originally had another scene at the beginning, Yusuke talking with Akira about the both of them getting a dose of the medication, and then another scene at the end, with Ryuji and Yusuke storming into Leblanc to demand an explanation out of Akira, only to find him and Goro snuggled together in Akira's bed, both all cat-boy'd up. They made the fic run waaaaaaay over the zine's max limit though, so they're lost to time, alas. X}P
> 
> It was a really fun experience to work on Phantom Paws; this was my first-ever zine piece, and I guess technically also my first-ever published work? As far as something I wrote actually getting printed and sent out in book-format, at least. Pretty cool stuff! And there's so much more amazing content from such 10/10 talented artists and authors in that zine, check out [ the Phantom Paws twitter, @purrsona5zine, ](https://twitter.com/purrsona5zine) they've been rt-ing all the work now that it's getting posted!
> 
> If this is the first fic of mine you've read, hi! Most of the time I'm working on my Shuake Childhood Friends AU Longfic (though at this point its less Childhood Friends AU and more just a vastly different take on the whole of P5, it's really become a beast of which I have no control), [ "Like The Moon, We Borrow Our Light." ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21227510/chapters/50538923) If you'd like more regular updates about my writing, or just wanna hear me talk about my cat a whole bunch, my Twitter is [ @SevventhSteen! ](https://twitter.com/SevventhSteen)
> 
> Have an Nyabsolutely Meowvelous day, and see y'all soon! X}3c


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